Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro (MAM Rio)
Modernist museum in Flamengo Park with Brazilian modern and contemporary art and a film archive.
Founded in 1948, MAM Rio moved to Flamengo Park in the 1950s and 1960s into a building by Affonso Eduardo Reidy, one of the landmarks of Brazilian modernism. The exhibition block is carried on a row of V-shaped concrete frames, freeing a column-free interior and a continuous glazed wall facing Guanabara Bay. The surrounding gardens were laid out by Roberto Burle Marx as part of the wider landfill park scheme.
A fire in July 1978 destroyed most of the works then on display, and the museum has rebuilt its holdings largely through donations, notably the Gilberto Chateaubriand collection of Brazilian modern and contemporary art and the Joaquim Paiva photography collection. Alongside changing exhibitions and a long-term display drawn from the three collections, the museum runs a cinematheque with a substantial film archive, a research library and an education programme. Admission is free.
Highlights
- Affonso Eduardo Reidy's concrete pavilion over Guanabara Bay
- Gardens designed by Roberto Burle Marx in Flamengo Park
- Gilberto Chateaubriand collection of Brazilian modern art
- Cinematheque with daily screenings and a large film archive
